Are we as an organisation compliant or not

[jazz]

Hi

I have being putting together a closing document, in relation to whether the organization that I work for is compliant to the NCA as 'Incidental Credit" grantor. I have previously requested the opinion of the forum regarding preferred language. On consultation with our regulatory department to my worst nightmare I discovered that our service agreements are only printed in English and not Afrikaans or any other preferred language. Would this be a problem? Should we be looking at getting our service agreements in another lanaguage. I would not like the NCR knocking at our door indicating that we are not compliant.Should we rather be safe then sorry later .

Regards
Jazz

[Dave A]

I think the section that is of relevance here is the Right to information in official language.

For a registrant, this seems to be as honerous as it gets:

(2) If the producer of a document that is required to be delivered to a consumer in terms of this Act is, or is required to be, a registrant, that person must-

(a) make a submission to the National Credit Regulator proposing to make such documents available in at least two official languages; and

(b) offer each consumer an opportunity to choose an official language in which to receive any document, from among at least two official languages as determined in accordance with a proposal that has been approved by the National Credit Regulator.

(3) A proposal in terms of subsection (2) may propose-

(a) the same official languages for use throughout the Republic; or

(b) different official languages for use in different parts of the Republic.

For a non-registrant, the requirement is far more qualified, giving a little more latitude:

(6) If the producer of a document that is required to be delivered to a consumer in terms of this Act is not a registrant, and not required to register, that person must offer the consumer an opportunity to choose an official language in which to receive that document from among at least two official languages selected by the producer of the document, having regard to usage, practicality, expense, regional circumstances and the balance of the needs and preferences of the population ordinarily served by that person.

Reading through that with my untrained eye, it seems there is a basic requirement to offer the consumer a choice between a minimum of two of the official languages. By my understanding, this means that all your documentation can be in one language, but you need to provide the consumer with an option to request the documentation in another language.

That being so, it would seem prudent to identify a second official language that would be workable for you and list that as the option language. However, providing the documentation in that second official language to a consumer would seem to be an "upon request" situation rather than a mandatory requirement for every notice.

*Not lawyer or expert. Usual general disclaimer hereunder applies.